Todd Taylor says he realized early on in life that the banjo was going to be his thing. He decided he would do everything in his power to elevate the status of the banjo as a respected musical instrument. And that’s exactly what he’s done.
Since he and his twin brother first hit the Nashville music scene as the Taylor Twins — even performing at the legendary Grand Ole Opry, Todd has gone on to pick up five Grammy Awards nominations, and he even set a Guinness World Record for being the fastest banjo player in the world.
In fact, Todd was the first person in history to establish a world record for playing the banjo.
It was just his latest first. In the early 1980s, Todd was the first person to bring the banjo to Top 40 radio with a remake of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Freebird” wtih Rick Dees.
In the early 1990s, he was sick with a rare genetic muscle disease. It turned out, that he was the only person in the U.S. with it. He was given six weeks to live and confined to a wheelchair.
Todd says that was a turning point for him. He knew he wanted to show other people with disabilities that they could accomplish anything they set their minds to, so he set out to set the Guinness World Record for them and urge them to never, ever give up.
Todd shares stories from his days in Nashville and how the great Eddie Stubbs took him under his wing.
Plus, wait until you hear how Todd gives one of the greatest classical pieces in history the banjo treatment.
To learn more about Todd’s record and to listen to more clips, click here to visit his website.